Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

Dev.SN ♥ developers

'Dumb' Watches and the Technology in our Lives

posted by janrinok on Monday March 24 2014, @12:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the 1st-world-problems dept.

Xenex writes:

"In the wake of the Android Ware [Video] announcement, I have been giving thought to the impact these watches could have on our life. 'The more I read about smartwatches, the more I appreciate my "dumb" watches' writes Shawn Blanc. 'But I don't just wear a watch to know what time it is. Part of the reason I wear one is as an excuse not to pull out my iPhone.' Basically: when you look at a watch you see the time, when you look at a smartphone for the time you also see notifications. Avoiding my phone is definitely a factor for me nowadays, and a 'smart' watch might just be another distraction."

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
'Dumb' Watches and the Technology in our Lives | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 1000 moderator points   | 25 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by Tork on Monday March 24 2014, @02:12PM

    by Tork (3914) on Monday March 24 2014, @02:12PM (#20404)

    I recently purchased a Pebble Watch and, from experience, can tell you that that's probably what you're looking for. It's a watch (with a bunch of neat watch faces...), and when your phone has a notification, it turns up on the display AND the watch vibrates. Actually I've killed the sound notifications on my phone because of this. (Although it might be worth asking me a month from now if I continue to still do that.)

    Basically they went the short and simple route with this watch and... it works! The watch is a nice decent size. The battery life... eh it's so so, 3 or 4 days, but since it uses something like a mag-safe adapter they claim it's water resistent. (Note: I have not tried this.) The simple interface doesn't get bogged down in minutia just to see why your phone is buzzing. And, the most shocking thing for me, is that I had no idea that watches were MISSING vibration capability. Seriously, I would never have thought I'd want a watch with this capability.

    My experience with it gives me the same concern you have about getting something more sophisticated: I don't want to noodle the damn thing. The thought of actually having to do app updates on it just fills me with dread. Simple is good with a watch, treat it like a second monitor and nothing more, that's what I say.

    --
    Slashdolt logic: 1600 x 1200 > 1920 x 1200